Jackson Junior 01: I'm Right Here
by drgemini86
Summary: Prequel to Jackson Junior, set in seasons 5 to 7, did you really think that Daniel wouldn't be there for Sam? Meanwhile, he discovers something of interest but keeps hitting walls when he wants to know more about it. SamDaniel
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** Set in season 5 initially. Prequel to Jackson Junior -- Daniel really was there for Sam when he was gone.  
**Rating:** Teen  
**Category:** UST  
**Genres:** Action/Adventure, Friendship, Drama  
**Warnings:** Canon torture from season 5-6  
**Spoilers:** Stargate movie, seasons 1-7  
**A/N:** Originally posted on before my account got hacked, but it wasn't a part of Jackson Junior. Had a think about it, and felt that it would fit in with later events in that series (esp. Commanders; story number four)

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Sam stood in the most Daniel-like room on the planet - his office. Some of his books and journals were still on his desk, waiting for a perusal that would never come, not from the one man who knew them inside out like they did him, the man who knew how to treat them with the utmost care and respect. She gazed around the room, needing to feel closer to him after watching him... what had she watched him do? After the Colonel had bizarrely stopped Selmak from healing everyone's favourite Archaeologist, the man had turned into glowing yellow energy and promptly rose through the ceiling.

To distract herself, partially from her own grief, she directed her anger and pain at the Colonel... mentally at least. How could he have given up on Daniel like that? Daniel would never have given up on any of them like that, but the Colonel appeared to have forgotten all of that when he had callously stopped her father. If Daniel had given up like that, all of them would be dead more times over -- her and the Colonel would most certainly have frozen to death in Antarctica had he not made a crucial realisation that led to them being saved, and the discovery of the second 'gate. Taking that into account, how could the Colonel have just given up? Sam couldn't understand, and in all her grief, she didn't want to. She didn't want to hear the Colonel telling her afterwards that he had wanted it. This was Daniel they were talking about! That man never gave up!

She clutched his journal, remembering his long fingers running up and down the spine while it was closed as his mind ran through multiple and manifold loops and over equally so hurdles, his brow furrowing in thought as he wrote down his many mission-related, archaeological, anthropological and linguistic observations as he sat in a forest, a rocky outcrop, a desert camp, a cave... a dungeon. Inside this particular one were archaeological field notes of the architecture encountered on the planet whose sun had threatened to destroy it, only to be saved at the last minute by the Asgard. Her distant gaze grew as she remembered that particular mission - how stubborn the locals had been in their beliefs, how equally stubborn Daniel had been in trying to convince them to go through the 'gate to a safer world...

It was then that she remembered the dispute between the Enkarans and the Gadmeer, the latter of whom the Colonel had decided, despite the decision not being his to make, that it was their time to die to let the Enkarans live, even willing to disobey orders to carry out that decision. She had wept as zero hour approached, knowing fully well that not only would the chances of an entire civilisation be extinguishd should the generator explode, but also that Daniel would have died too - he had been on board the ship, looking for an alternative to bloodshed; a solution that would suit both sides. And he had found it, in true Daniel Jackson fashion - highly effective with no fatalities.

It had really struck home then how different and yet the same she and Daniel were. Despite them both being scientists and needed on SG-1 for their expertise, he wasn't afraid to tell the Colonel, or anyone else for that matter, that they were wrong, to stand up for what was right, regardless of the cost to himself, regardless of his own fear. She couldn't do such a thing. She had been brought up in the military, brought up to respect the command structure and to follow it, regardless of the consequences - to trust her superiors no matter what. She was a soldier, but he... well, he wasn't. Her early days with SG-1, under Jack O'Neill's command, had showed her that if she wanted her voice to be heard in that manner, she would have to fight, and it just wasn't worth it to her, to constantly have to battle within the command structure when they had to battle with the Goa'uld and Replicators. They couldn't afford the friction for such a monumental task, so she followed, only voicing her tactical opinion when absolutely required.

She closed her eyes and for a fleeting moment, she caught a whiff of his scent -- the unique scent that was, just like the rest of the room, oh-so Daniel. It was the same scent that comforted her with its presence as they worked together through the night on the latest intergalactic conundrum, a scent that was just like him, that spoke of solid, silent comfort. Even when soaking wet and covered in alien mud after being caught in a surprise downpour off-world and chased by the indigenous fauna... or sometimes flora, or when sweating profusely after a desert expedition, the scent remained, an underlying reminder and source of comfort. When she smelled that iconic scent of an age now gone, strange as it sounds, it made everything seem better, seem alright again no matter how bad they had been.

It was hard to put into words, but it was like a fusion of sandalwood and rose, the dust of a library of ages, of knowledge and things unseen. It was just something that was quintissentially Daniel...

Just like the pair of glasses that she now held, holding them up so that she could see through them. Through those same lenses, he had seen things both so indescribably beautiful, and equally horrifying in a single lifetime. She was reminded of the amount of hurt and pain that he had endured - the loss of his parents, his abandonment at the hands of his sole surviving relative - his grandfather no less who had abandoned him once again in favour of the giant aliens he had once spent many years in pursuit of, his rocky childhood within the foster care system, the scorn he received for his seemingly far-fetched ideas, the loss of his wife and brother-in-law to the Goa'uld; his wife's pregnancy, again by the Goa'uld... The list was endless.

So much pain, so many tears, and yet he was the first person to offer comfort, not seeking any for himself; always the first to give than to take; the first to lay his life down for what he believed to be the right thing. She sighed as she remembered the man who had once been so full of life, lying in the Infirmary, slowly and painfully dying, his organs liquefying. And yet, he hadn't complained, just accepting it as a result of what he had done - that beautiful, selfless, heroic gesture that went unappreciated by the people who he had laid his life down for. That angered her, and if the Colonel hadn't returned to Kelowna with a letter from his superiors, she would have gone to acquaint their posteriors with the business end of a P-90 in all her grief-stricken rage.

She had watched him in his last moments, and almost told him how she had felt about him. He had changed her. Just by knowing him and travelling with him, she had realised how cold, how ritualised she had been. He had taught her to stand up for what she believed in. Simarka had been the first test of that. She had fought for Naya's freedom, freedom from death by her father's hand for simply falling in love with the 'wrong' boy. That small victory had changed the societies of that planet forever, the women gaining more freedom in the process, taking the first step to becoming equals to their male counterparts instead of pleasure machines, baby pumps and domestic servants.

She really did see what mattered now - the people that they had encountered, the lives that they had touched. Sure, their standing orders were to search for technologies to aid their ongoing fight against the Goa'uld, but that didn't mean pillaging the galaxy. To really gain results, they would have to make alliances, even amongst the most unlikely of people.

She wistfully thought of how she had taken so long to realise her feelings for him. She had fallen in love with him before they had met, reading the report of the first mission, hearing Catherine Langford wax lyrical about that delightful young man with a heart of gold who had taken her necklace as a good luck charm, and then returned it to her via the Colonel when he had chosen to stay with his new family. She put those feelings aside when she witnessed his grief, first-hand, at losing Sha're, and how he had searched for her during his first years on SG-1, the hope of bringing her home wavering by the end of the second year when he had to let her go once again after delivering another man's baby, and then, months later, when he had found her again for the last time, officially becoming a widower.

She had forced those feelings down and comforted him as his best friend, offering her comfort and hope, just as the Colonel and Teal'c had. The feelings had come to the fore many times since then, but she had forced them down again. She had loved many since, but nowhere near as much as she loved him, and that scared her. Not only did the depth of said feelings scare her, but the fact that they hadn't shown any signs of dwindling despite all the adventures and skirmishes that they had come through, the places that they had seen, the people they had helped, the enemies that they had fought. They had come through it together - the Colonel, him, Teal'c and her, and yet she still had her feelings for him.

One thing that really hurt her, almost but not quite as much as the loss, was that the mountain had just carried on, business as usual. Missions happened, SG teams went about exploring planets; sometimes returning injured and/or returning with new technologies, and artefacts that would now be looked at by someone else - someone not quite so open-minded and brilliant; the Tok'ra and Asgard called in for assistance despite the former rarely answering calls for help... Where had they been when he was dying? They could have helped him, especially after everything he had done. Business as usual. Such a brilliant man had died and yet the world hadn't taken notice, not even the one world who should have due to them directly benefitting from his sacrifice.

Typical military detachment. She had grown up to respect the military, but at the moment, she was finding it hard to reconcile it with her overwhelming feelings of grief. Teal'c had opened up a little to her, but the one man who really should be opening up to her, a fellow Air Force officer, hadn't. He had shut himself away, not wanting to talk about his unlikely best friend, and she felt alone. Well, she would feel even more lost and alone had it not been for Janet who understood how hard it was to reconcile personal feelings with being in the military.

Right now, she didn't care. All she wanted was to have him back, right here working away at a translation, looking at the minimal archaeological notes in one of SG-3's mission reports, or talking non-stop about his latest theory. Oh, how she missed him. She would give anything to have him back in the land of the living, back on SG-1, back here so she could hear his voice again - his proper voice, not the one that he had had in his last hours, the one strained by his internal ordeal.

Unknown to her, the object of her thoughts stood right beside her in a cream sweater and brown trousers. He gazed at her, his eyes softening with sadness and guilt at her grief for him, and he reached out a hand, smoothing her cheek. She couldn't feel him of course, but it made him feel better in some small way. In all the promises of moving onwards and upwards, he had forgotten her, forgotten how his loss would make her feel. To be honest, he hadn't thought that she would be _this_ hurt. He was aware of Jack's and Teal'c's grief, and how they had suppressed it, but it was a shock to the system, or ascended equivalent, to see her so moved, so overwhelmingly sad that he longed to hold her, to reassure her of his presence.

Only, he couldn't. He had chosen his path - there was no turning back. As he heard a chiming noise in his ear, a gentle reminder from his mentor, Oma DeSala, that he had to leave, he whispered, "I'm right here Sam, I never left."


	2. Chapter 2

Aboard the barely finished X-303, Sam had been locked in a storage closet, unable to escape. She had managed to notify the outside of the situation on board via a crude radio set, and Major Davis had informed her of a sublight relay that she had to cut to stop the hijackers from risking the ship's structural integrity by taking off. What remained was how she would get out of the closet to do that.

She reached for a plasma cutter for something to do, knowing too well that she wouldn't be able to cut through the Trinium alloy during what remained of the allotted time limit given by the hijackers as an ultimatum to the SGC. Remembering Daniel's favourite proverb, 'In the kingdom of hope, there is no winter', she went to work, covering her face with a welding mask as she whispered,

"If only you were here, Daniel. I'd have more than this wall and this damned cutter to talk to."

Unbeknownst to her, he was there, leaning off to her right against a wall, dressed in his favourite cream sweater and brown trousers once again. He said, looking increasingly worried,

"I'm right here, Sam. You've got to have a fighting chance."

Sensing Oma nearing him, he waved his hand quickly and watched as the cutting process sped up, her along with it. He knew that things would work out, but only if she was given a more than one percent chance of succeeding.

A half hour later, he watched her step through the hole that she had cut, determination in her stride, just as Oma's gentle but firm reminder sounded in his ear. With a weary sigh, he acquiesced, disappearing in a flash of white light.


	3. Chapter 3

On Nirrti's planet, Sam had been dragged from the cell that SG-1 and their Russian friends had been imprisoned in. She was brought to Nirrti's lab, where the Goa'uld told her to step into the machine. Sam hesitated, unsure of what would happen, but one look at her deformed escort and remembering his abilities, she stepped onto the platform as Nirrti sneered with a smug expression,

"Now let's see what you are made of."

Sam's thoughts that included the words 'sentence', 'preposition', and 'witch', were rudely interrupted by an overwhelming surge of intense pain as she felt her insides changing, images of her DNA spiralling around her. She grimaced, not wanting to give the Goa'uld the satisfaction of seeing her cry, and she forced herself to hold on, to ride it out until the end.

Suddenly, the pain was gone, a cool and breezy blackness surrounding her. She turned around, confused, and called,

"Hello?"

Hearing nothing, she turned back to where she had initially been facing to find, much to her surprise, Daniel standing there, a soft white light glowing around him as he gazed at her, sadness in his eyes. She stared at him, her brain barely registering who he was. She closed her eyes to prevent her tears from falling as she remembered him dying, and she asked, releasing a shuddering breath, her eyes still closed,

"Am I dead?"

He gently caressed her jaw, making her open her eyes, and he replied in the voice that she had missed so much, "You're not, but you will be if something's not done soon."

She bit her lip, debating whether or not to hug him, when she couldn't contain herself and threw her arms around him, whispering as her tears fell, "Oh God! I've missed you so much!"

His arms eventually went around her, holding her almost as tightly as she was holding him, and he replied, his cheek resting against her hair, "I've missed you too."

He added hastily to cover up his own conscious realisation of his feelings, "... you, Jack, Teal'c..."

Still holding him, she straightened up a little to get a good look at his face, and she asked, briefly looking around at their surroundings before returning her gaze to him, "Where are we?"

With a little smile, he replied, "In your mind."

She frowned slightly, remarking as she reluctantly let him go, looking around herself again, "I don't mean to toot my own horn, but it's a bit empty."

He replied, smiling at first, "Ah, well, you see, I've shrouded us within your mind. I don't know how long I can keep this up."

He continued, his features set with determination, "She's not going to get away with this Sam. I won't let her."

Suddenly very worried, she was about to ask him something when the pain returned, feeling as though each cell of her body was being pillaged by an army of marauding damaged cells. Brief images of her DNA appeared, and she, grimacing but tears coming nonetheless, said, clutching her head before she met his troubled gaze imploringly,

"Oh God, make it stop! It hurts so much!"

She was about to collapse when the pain stopped, and she took a deep breath to steady herself. He replied, glowing tears running down his cheeks as he helped her to stand again,

"I'm so sorry Sam. I can't do anything more than this, but I can tell you that she isn't going to get away with this. She can't. I won't let her."

Worried again, she asked as she reached up to smooth his jawline, "What about you? Won't you get into trouble?"

His eyes searching her face, remembering every detail should the worst happen, he replied in a whisper, mesmerised by her beauty, "I don't care."

Suddenly, she felt as though she was being dragged into herself, and as she grimaced, the pain returning with a vengeance, she heard him whisper, "You're not alone Sam. I'm right here. Just hang on a little longer."


	4. Chapter 4

After Sam had been unceremoniously dumped in SG-1's cell, the Colonel being escorted soon afterwards to see Nirrti after they had watched Colonel Evanov explode into water, she lay on a bench, bloated and sweating, and feeling very unwell. She fought for each breath, feeling life ebbing away from her, and she wondered if she was going to see Daniel again, and her mother.

Just as she was ready to give up, her surroundings swirled like an oil painting and she suddenly found herself sat on a beach that she had visited with her family the weekend before her mother had been killed in a car accident. She sat on the rocks, stunned at the once familiar yet alien view before her, the sun illuminating her fair hair as she watched yachts in the distance.

Following an instinct, she looked over to her right to see none other than Daniel silently sat next to her. She asked, feeling shy for some reason,

"Am I dead now?"

He reached up to gently push her hair behind her ear, remarked with a fond smile, the smile fading as he looked out to the horizon, "No, you've got a fair few years left in you yet, Samantha."

Feeling a strange but nice nonetheless warmness at his use of her full name, she smiled and followed his gaze. She said as she watched a boat set sail from a distant dock, cutting its course through the water, "We came here the weekend before we lost Mom. I remember Mom sitting right here as she watched me and Mark play volleyball with Dad."

A tear ran down her cheek as she continued in a whisper, "It was our last happy time as a family."

She felt his arm around her and she leant into his embrace. He wrapped both of his arms around her, resting his chin on the top of his head as he said, "It's a nice place."

Gazing up at him, she asked as he tenderly dried her tears, "What's going to happen now?"

His gaze moved out towards the horizon again as he replied, "Well, Nirrti's getting her comeuppance, you and the others will be going home..."

He met her gaze once more, continuing, "Not bad for a day's work."

She asked, worried, "What about you?"

He shrugged and replied softly, "I don't know and I don't care. I told you that I wouldn't let her get away with what she was doing, and I'm not going to be a liar."

She suddenly smiled, remarking, "You're a terrible liar."

He smiled back at her, replying, "Exactly."

They let go of each other, and she leant her head on his shoulder as she held his hand, savouring his presence as they both looked out towards the horizon once more. He tenderly kissed her forehead and whispered,

"Look after yourself Sam."

She looked at him, worried, and he continued, "Jack's coming back. You're going to be healed and you'll go home unlike Colonel Evanov. Nirrti's dead."

Her eyes widened briefly in horror, and he added with a grim expression, "It's a long story."

He sighed as he gazed down at her, and she asked as she felt herself fading, "Will I ever see you again?"

She heard his reply as she found herself once more in the cell, "I don't know, but I'll always watch over you as long as I'm able."

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In Nirrti's lab, Jack argued with Nirrti to no avail about healing Sam and freeing the rest of the imprisoned personnel. When the Goa'uld had announced her intention of making Sam her host, Daniel, dressed in Abydonian robes, remarked fiercely as he overlooked proceedings, unseen, leaning against a wall,

"Over her sauteéd symbiote."

At the same time, Jack announced his own remark of defiance. Daniel whispered to Jack regardless of whether the Colonel could hear him or not, his voice breaking by the end,

"Jack, don't you dare bargain with her - she's going to kill all of you. She has no intention of freeing anyone, of healing Sam..."

Jack looked at Egar meaningfully, reminding him of an earlier conversation regarding defying Nirrti, and the mutant, reluctantly at first, focussed his psychic abilities on the Goa'uld. Suddenly, his eyes widened in horror and he shouted,

"Stop! What he says is true!"

Wodan, not really wanting to hear the answer, asked about his brother, Alebran, whose demise SG-1 had witnessed Earthside, and Egar gave him the grim news with regard to Nirrti's hand in the man's death. Daniel whispered in Wodan's already grief-stricken mind,

"Don't let her get away with this, Wodan. She killed your brother. The travellers can help you but you have to let them help you. If you let her live, she'll kill you and your friends."

At the same time, he whispered inside Egar's mind, "Look into her mind again, Egar. Look inside and find out how the machine works. You need to undo the evils that Nirrti has carried out."

Jack and Nirrti watched in horror as Wodan focussed his telekinetic abilities on Nirrti's advancing Jaffa, killing them, before focussing his rage on Nirrti herself. Ignoring Jack's calls to stop, and Nirrti's pleadings to save her life, he held her aloft with invisible hands before ruthlessly snapping her neck, her lifeless body falling to the floor with a thud.

When Jack had voiced his objections, Egar replied that he had looked into Nirrti's mind to find out how the resequencer machine worked. Daniel whispered before disappearing in a flash of unseen white light, hopeful of the future,

"You're going home - just get Sam in that thing."


	5. Chapter 5

Their surroundings a glowing, ethereal white, Daniel and Oma stood opposite each other, a humongous Greek temple built in the Doric order, it's long, white columns just visible in the mist, and she said in her characteristically calm voice, belied only by the worry in her eyes,

"Daniel, you have not only crossed the line that flows its course between the lands of non-interference and interference, you have annihilated it. The Others will not stand for what you have done. They already had doubts with regard to your activist tendencies, but now, they are considering a graver punishment for you."

As he stared at her, his eyes hard with determination to hide his growing fear, she continued, "The man hangs between life and death, a single thread to support him."

He replied, agitated, "Yes, yes, the Sword of Damocles - the... the... uh, demonstration of a tyrant's security on his throne in Ancient Greece. I'm not a tyrant. You said so yourself that the Ascended were simply another race, not tyrannical and megalomaniac like those distant cousins of yours; that you have the rules to prevent such evil interference. However, _you_ toe the line because you believe that it should be our duty to help those in the lower plains to achieve ascension, that it should not be an exclusive frequent fliers club."

Nothing was spoken for what appeared to be centuries in the corporeal world, although in the non-corporeal world, the time dimension was immaterial, before he expelled a long breath, considering his options. He said, glancing down for a moment,

"Why don't you kill me... or... or whatever else you want to do to me, now? Why don't you? I've broken the highest rule of the ascended beings by indirectly or otherwise ending a life, so surely I should be punished."

Oma hesitated, something indescribable flitting past her eyes, and his eyes narrowed on noticing it. He said cautiously,

"There's something else, isn't there? There's a reason why you can't cast me down. What is it? Is it anything to do with the inscriptions on the outskirts of the labour camp on Erebus?... Who, or what is the Guardian, the Listener and the Duality?"

Oma shook her head, the gesture somehow remaining serene despite the growing aura of awkwardness, and she raised a hand. To her left, Daniel's right, appeared a dark haired woman dressed in white with large dark eyes. He swallowed, suddenly scared, and asked,

"Morgan, what are you doing here?"

Morgan Le Fay replied, "Daniel Jackson, the time has not come for you to learn of such things."

He frowned at her, asking, "There is something, isn't there?"

Oma sighed silently and replied, "Daniel, all things in their time."

He retorted, angry, "We're on a plain where time doesn't exist! How could you possibly come out with metaphors involving time when time itself is non-existent?!"

He continued, stepping backwards from the two women, his gestures aggressive as he grew more and more frustrated, "What the hell do you want from me?! Am I meant to simply stand here and... wait while my friends suffer and die alone? This... this was meant to be the continuation of a journey, a chance to make a real difference, but I get the feeling that you don't care."

He added, shouting to people unseen around him, "That's right, you don't give a damn! One of these days you will meet your match! Someone from the lower plains will come here to fight you, and you won't stand a chance because you will have let him or her come up, and you would be on a level playing field. I am sick... sick and tired of all this invisible bureaucracy and legislature. We are in a position to help, and yet we only watch!"

Morgan replied in a steady tone, "Your thoughts are clouded by your personal feelings for Samantha Carter and your friends. We have the rules for a reason. Long ago, an off-shoot of our civilisation decided that the rules were wrong, that interference was the right path. They could not ascend, but siphoned the life energy of blinded followers from the lower plains, giving them false promises of ascension, and yet taking it away from them. They pose as deities of worship, spreading their dictates."

He stared at her in horror, and asked, "Who are they?"

Morgan glanced at Oma, who said, "The Ori..."

She continued, "Currently, the Milky Way is safe. You and one other will ultimately be the key to their defeat once they discover your galaxy and bitter crusades ensue."

He hung his head in thought, his chin touching his chest, and he asked quietly, "When will they come?"

Morgan replied, sounding slightly affronted, "We cannot reveal that information. You already know too much."

He threw his hands up in despair and sighed before saying, "Well, if you're not going to tell me, then at least tell me who the Guardian, the Listener and the Duality are. They appear to be part of an Ancient prophecy."

Whooshes of white light shot up all around him, materialising into recognisable human figures, each clad in white. He looked around himself to find that he was surrounded by twelve Ancients. A fair-haired woman, Liliththe traditional step-mother of mankind to be precise, stepped forward and said in a voice with a musical lilt, an iron-cast firmness running just beneath the surface,

"Daniel Jackson, if you continue to ask about what we are not willing to impart to you, then we will be forced to take further action. You are not of us. You are of the lower plains..."

Daniel retorted in disbelief, "So are you!"

"... of a race of a far inferior physiology..."

Daniel was seething by now as he was reminded of Nazi ideas of supremacy, and he said, his voice quiet but cold, "Lilith, don't you dare claim that I am not worthy of ascension because I'm not of the same physiology. We are all of energy, these forms only mere representations of our human forms. I will not be subjected to snobbery from a race that claims that they are not superior and overbearing, at the same time as claiming that you are superior to me because of your physiology."

Lilith replied, her eyes almost flashing with indignation, "Daniel Jackson, I was simply stating the reasons why you should not be privy to everything just because of you being here. There are things that you must not know, that are to remain unknown to you until the time is right. When the time comes, you will know everything. If you know now, the time stream of the lower plains will be disrupted."

The faces of the figures around him glowed a soft yellow colour, the hue rippling like moving silk, and he turned to Oma, who said as the figures converted to white masses of pure energy that materialised from view, "I cannot keep you safe if you persist in challenging the Others. They will punish you, that you can be sure."

Morgan added, her dark gaze piercing Daniel's immaterial body, "You must preserve yourself for the sake of the future, Daniel Jackson."

And with that, before his flabbergasted self could ask anything, she followed her Ascended brethren, converting into energy once more. Oma looked at him, her eyes once more clouded with sorrow as she said,

"Daniel, Ganos Lal is right. Within you lies the future."

Puzzled, he asked, "The future? The future of what?"

"The future."

She continued, her gaze softening, "For this purpose, you must not risk your status by saving Samantha should she encounter mortal danger once again."

When he made to object, she added, "Your personal feelings for her at this stage will destroy everything."

"At _this_ stage? What do you mean? I will not stand idly by and watch her suffer! I can't."

In his growing anger, he converted into energy, the mass flying ever upwards, and Oma smiled slightly as she watched the mass ascend, whispering silently as her face glowed white, "Your time will come - your long journey will mean more to you than it does now. Be patient, gallant warrior."


	6. Chapter 6

Back at the SGC, the briefing room after Jack had announced that he had received his surprise Intel from Daniel had turned into a pandemonium, the General and Jonas flabbergasted as the Colonel revealed that he had seen Daniel before, and Teal'c then following suit. Sam debated whether to add her experiences into the mix but then she had doubts as to whether they were real or not, perhaps a reaction in her mind to the torture and pain. So she stayed silent, periodically interjecting little questions that were, for the most part, ignored.

Arriving on Abydos, a battle soon raged on the surface, the Abydos cavalry forces poorly matched against the far superior forces of Anubis, the latter in search of the Eye of Ra, the existence of which Daniel had revealed to the Colonel in the lift earlier that day.When no-one beneath the surface could find the Eye, no-one having any idea of where it could be, the Colonel started shouting for Daniel... and suddenly, he appeared, dressed in Abydonian robes. She watched him in awe and surprise, glad that he was alright. As the battle raged above their heads, Anubis' forces gaining the upper hand, he greeted each of them, but, much to her dismay, greeted her in the same breath as Jonas, his eyes devoid of recognition.

As he explained where he thought the Eye was, Jack joining Teal'c on the surface to aid the defence effort to buy them enough time, he did so in a peculiarly subdued manner, as though the woman he stood next to was _not_ someone that he had worked with closely for five years before now. Standing there was the galaxy's chattiest linguist, who was really not saying much as they looked at the fresco; a joke about zipping into the secret chamber hadn't got much more out of him than the statement that that was complicated.

She felt dead inside as she watched Jonas use _Daniel's_ equipment on the fresco, the Ascended Archaeologist saying more to the Kelownan than he had her, when he noticed the bag of archaeological paraphernalia that Jonas had brought along. What did it matter that it was his stuff? He wasn't going to use it any more? How did he pass his time on that whole other place of existence? Maybe he was bored out of his head by not having a translation or an artefact to look at -- this thought made her smile briefly.

She felt a little closer to him when he silently asked her to align the infrared beam of her P-90 with the red spot on the fresco. For a fleeting moment, it felt like old times again, finishing each other's sentences, having an entire conversation and working out intergalactic conundrums without speaking much. A year had passed since they had lost him, but she still missed that level of interaction with him, something unique, not experienced in any of her previous relationships with men.

She watched Jonas half-heartedly as he went about knocking on walls with his chisel in search for a secret compartment within a secret chamber as she wondered what on Earth was up with Daniel. She liked Jonas a lot, offering an olive branch of friendship to him soon after he had joined SG-1, but he was so closed minded in comparison to Daniel, who had the propensity to think in leaps and bounds, three hundred thousand miles outside of the box, but always making sense... eventually. Why wouldn't there be a secret compartment within a secret chamber? The Minoans had labyrinthine palaces, and their civilisation was a mere grandchild to that of the ancient Egyptians, so why not?

As Jonas continued his search, Daniel appeared once again, and was about to carry on in his previous manner, when Sam had had enough. She grabbed his arm and tugged him over to a corner. He stared at her in surprise, and she spoke, willing herself not to cry,

"What's wrong, Daniel? You've barely spoken three words to me since we've been here."

His gaze fell to his feet, and he replied quietly as she briefly checked on Jonas' progress, "Abydos is hanging in the balance here, Sam. If Anubis gets the Eye, he'll dominate the galaxy, but if he doesn't get it, he'll destroy this place."

He met her gaze, shrouding his feelings with barely concealed sadness, and continued, "I can't let that happen. This is all I have left of my wi... of Sha're."

Her heart sank as she realised the full implications of not only his behaviour but the growing situation above them, and she said, hiding her disappointment with one of hopeful wistfulness, "I know that. I... know. I just want to know where the man is who was there for me during my torture, who helped me and kept me alive when no-one else could."

He shook his head and replied, his eyes looking as though he had seen a myriad of ghosts, "I failed you. When the prisoner knocked you out, I should have been there. I should have stopped him... I should have... but I couldn't."

His gaze fell as he mentally beat himself up, and she frowned, and said, forcing him to meet her gaze, "You did more than anyone ever could. Thank you."

She paused, and asked, "What about you? Are you in trouble?"

He gazed at her, not wanting to answer her question, and he said quietly, "I could have done so much more."

She shook her head and smiled at the proof that Daniel was still... well, Daniel, and she reached up to kiss him on the cheek in a gesture of gratitude. Despite not being human, he blushed. Unknown to her, from his hand as it gently caressed her jaw and neck, a glowing white light emerged, rising to her head. A moment later, her eyes blanked out briefly before she frowned in puzzlement. She asked,

"Daniel?"

He replied, feeling dead inside, "I'm sorry that I couldn't be there for you, Sam. I was there for Jack and Teal'c, but I wasn't there for you because you're a strong person. You nearly died just like them, but you were never in any permanent danger - they were."

Before she could say anything, surprised as she was and yet confused as she hadn't remembered talking about that to him, he walked over to a table on which lay a broken stone tablet. He pondered it for a few moments as a distraction at first, but then he realised what it said, not only containing clues of a fabled Lost City of the Ancients, but also the key to who he was now, and who his fellow Ascended were - the Ancients.

Shocked at this as a curious Sam approached him, he quickly told her to keep the tablet hang onto the it at all costs, before disappearing suddenly. She bit her lip as she whispered,

"Come back soon."


	7. Chapter 7

Daniel raced as fast as a mass of energy could to where the other Ascended were, a dancing ring of white and yellow light. He materialised in its centre and said, surprised and excited,

"You're Ancients! You're... Ancients."

Oma materialised before him in her human form and she replied, "That is affirmative, Daniel."

His expression turning into one of distrust, he asked, "Why... why didn't you tell me?"

"Because that fact was immaterial to your journey. You are destined for great, wonderful things, but there are things that you must not know until the time is right."

"And the time is right now for me knowing that you are Ancients?"

"That is correct. You have led your friends on the path to discovering our Lost City, once the crown jewel of our empire that spanned galaxies. The Others will permit this for we are well aware of what will happen. Should Anubis succeed in his quest for galactic domination, he will find the Lost City and events will take a noticeable turn for the worse and the path will be ruined."

"I'll say..."

Their gazes met once more before he converted into energy once again, spiralling upwards as Oma too converted into the same matter, rejoining her brethren as they conversed among themselves about events in the lower plains.


	8. Chapter 8

Daniel arrived on the bridge of Anubis' ship to strike a bargain with the Goa'uld. He hadn't wanted it to come down to this, to practically give up the Eye in exchange for a guarantee for his surrogate family's safety. To be honest, he should have known better, but there was way too much at stake. It wouldn't matter, eventually, if Anubis took the Eye for SG-1 had at its fingertips something far better, far more powerful and valuable than a single Eye, than a whole set of Eyes. He needed time to put his plan into place. The other System Lords were already threatening to destroy Anubis, so both he and Daniel would benefit from the bargain... in an ideal universe.

He struck the bargain before returning to his friends to inform them of the latest developments. They were suitably shocked, Jack's reaction in particular being typical. Sam realised further Daniel's desperate determination to save the last reminder of his late wife, and she felt, at the same time, hope and sadness; hope for Sha're's legacy to live on; sadness because he didn't appear to feel for her as she felt for him. She forced her feelings down, not wanting to deal with them right now, and she vowed that she wouldn't let it get to her, that she would be happy... the only problem with that was that it was hard.

Jack eventually handed over the Eye to Her'ak, albeit reluctantly, and the forces left. SG-1 left soon afterwards. Jack was just about to step through the active event horizon when a deep rumbling noise made him turn around to witness Abydos getting hit from an aerial attack. After staring in muted horror at the growing devastation, he walked through before it was too late, wondering what had driven Daniel to believe that a snakehead would actually keep his end of a bargain, especially when it came to _preserving_ life.

His thought paused for 3.2 seconds as his body dematerialised, travelling thousands of light years during that time via the wormhole, and it continued as he emerged on the gateramp at the SGC in front of his relieved friends, with the silent words,

"Gotta remind Carter to give him a swift kick the next time he feels inclined to make deals with snakeheads."


	9. Chapter 9

_A few minutes before Abydos was destroyed..._

Daniel, now a free-floating mass of energy, watched as Anubis fired upon the other System Lords' fleets with his superweapon, destroying them, but the ship didn't leave, instead aiming the superweapon at Abydos. With growing feelings of utter horror mingled with anger, he appeared on the bridge of Anubis' mothership in human form, dressed in Abydonian robes, and he ordered Anubis to leave. Anubis, characteristically arrogant as the rest of his brethren, refused.

Fear below the surface, Daniel's eyes narrowed in determination as he realised what he had to do. He had to destroy Anubis, for SG-1's sake, for the galaxy's sake, for Abydos' sake... for Sha're's sake. He was in a 'now or never' moment. If he let Anubis go, the Goa'uld would dominate the galaxy within weeks, and his friends wouldn't be able to do anything. As for Abydos... no chance.

He felt the power coursing through his veins, or Ascended equivalent, and Anubis taunted him, provoking him to do what he had in mind. Daniel raised his hands, focussing on the rush of power, glad on one level that he was in a position to do something, and his hands glowed a yellowy-white. Yes, in a matter of seconds, Anubis would be vanquished and everyone would be happy.

Anubis carried on provoking him, teasing him, and Daniel's brow furrowed in concentration. He wasn't going to let him get away with this. All these years, he hadn't been able to fight back - a string of abusive foster families, school bullies, a 'touched' Jack... But now, he could. Now he could give this guy what for.

Just as he was about to strike, Anubis raising a gloved hand to shield his face, he heard Oma whisper in his ear, "His time will come, Daniel, but it is not now."

And with that, he felt himself being pulled away, dragged upwards whilst in the meantime fading along with the amassed power as he shouted in protest, "No! Don't do this!"

But it was too late, Oma had pulled him out, leaving behind a spooked Goa'uld and his First Prime, the former giving the fatal order to aim and fire the superweapon at Abydos' pyramid.

Daniel found himself in surroundings of absolute white, Oma in front of him, gazing at him sadly. He asked, seething with anger at her interference, "Why did you do that?! He was half-ascended! I could have destroyed him for good!"

She shook her head and replied, "No Daniel, I could not permit it to happen. The Others wish to cast you down to the lower plains without your memory as punishment for attempting to break our highest law. Little time remains."

He stared at her, asking, "What now? I... I fall and you let Anubis dominate the galaxy? If he finds a way to ascend, he will come for you and he will destroy you."

Morgan appeared next to Oma and said, a ring of rippling, shimmering light visible around the three figures, "Daniel Jackson, the end of the path cannot be visited from the middle. You must travese the path along its full course."

Daniel frowned in thought, and asked, "You mean that Anubis will eventually be defeated?"

The two women didn't answer his question, Oma saying instead, "The Others will not tolerate your presence among us any more. The thread has snapped. You indirectly killed Nirrti, and now you were about to kill Anubis."

Morgan said quickly, glancing around at the rippling light, "We must proceed quickly - the Others grow impatient."

Morgan disappeared, becoming a part of the ring, and Oma, her lower half disappearing into the now spinning ring, held Daniel's hands as she said, "I will perform the casting. You will not lose everything. If I do not do this, any of the Others will do this, and they will permanently erase your memories."

Grief-stricken and upset, he said, remembering a prophecy he had encountered, "Just tell me one thing - who are the Guardian, the Listener and the Duality? The inscriptions that I have come across appear to revere them."

Oma smiled slightly as she felt her brethren chatter excitedly amongst themselves, and she replied, a hand reaching up to cradle the side of his face as he shut his eyes, "You will discover this during your journey, Daniel. You are destined for wonderful things - you and Samantha both."

It was too late for him to open his eyes in surprise at that last part, and he wondered as his surroundings flashed endless white, whether he had misheard what she had said. Energy coursed through his very being, pure, white energy, and then he felt everything, his consciousness included, fade away into nothingness.


	10. Chapter 10

A group of tribesmen, dressed in a similar manner to the Bedouin of Earth, walked through the woods, on the way back to their nomadic settlement, when they saw a flash of brilliant white in the sky, crashing down to somewhere in amongst the trees in front of them. Wordlessly, they made their way to the place where they had seen the light come down, curious as well as scared at what it could be.

They found, much to their evident surprise, a naked man, his eyes blinking open as he looked increasingly scared. He was scared, not only because of his situation, but also because he didn't know who he was. A fleeting image of hair that glowed in the sunlight appeared in his mind but when he attempted to grasp it, it vanished, leaving him feeling empty once again.

The tribesmen, eventually getting over their surprise, clothed him and took him with them back to their settlement, inviting him to dinner. As he sat around a fire with them at sunset, platters of food being passed around, his head was filled with a strange unintelligible sound, and as he tasted a piece of white meat that had done the rounds, he murmured, much to his own confusion,

"Tastes like chicken."

Khordib, a dark-haired man with a blue turban - one of the men who had found him, asked as everyone else exchanged confused looks, "What is _chicken_?"

He looked around at the sea of faces facing him, and he replied, sounding spooked, "I don't know. I... I just said it and I don't know."

After dinner, Shamda, a tribal elder, invited him to his tent to ask about who he was, as was their tradition, and he was unable to say any more in answer to the elder man's questions than, "I can't remember anything before you found me in the woods. I don't know who I am or who I was. All I know is what I have learnt since."

Shamda and Khordib then whispered to each other, glancing at him in concern periodically as he wondered what was happening. Shamda then turned to him and said in an austere voice,

"Your name from this day onwards shall be 'Arrom' - it means 'naked one'."

He nodded slowly, turning over his new name in his mind. For an odd reason, it felt as though he had known all along what 'Arrom' had meant, but he couldn't quite put his finger on the how and the why.


	11. Chapter 11

For two months, nothing had been heard from Daniel. Sam had known that he would do all he could to save Abydos, but the fact that the planet had been destroyed, meant that Daniel couldn't, for whatever reason. It wasn't said, but it was evident that Daniel may be dead or some Ascended equivalent. There was no chance of him appearing to her as Orlin had.

They had lost Daniel so many times before, but now, this could very well be the last time. It hurt. On a personal level, she began to relive her grief of his death all over again; her best friend, her unrequited love. Love. She shook her head in disbelief as she sat up in bed one night, remarking to herself,

"You really know how to choose times to realise things, don't you, Samantha?!"

She lay back down again, clutching the sheets around her as she gazed at the phone through tear-filled eyes. He wasn't coming back. This was the end. What did it matter anyway? He had been there for Jack, for Teal'c, but not for her. She had almost died too -- on Nirrti's planet, but he hadn't been there... Why? He had apologised to her on Abydos after she had inexplicably zoned out for a few seconds, but there was no reason for his absence. Well, there was. Jack and Teal'c were his best friends - she, apparently, wasn't. In that case, how could he love her, especially after how he had behaved on Abydos?

She sniffed back more tears, and shut her eyes, just wanting him to come home again, no matter what his feelings. She wanted to find him safe and well again. If there was the smallest clue that he was still alive, still breathing, still... gazing up at huge ruins somewhere, she would give up everything just to find him. She would do that... for him, just for him. The ease that she had made those assertions to herself scared her.

Her eyes closed and she eventually fell into a fitful sleep, under the watchful gaze of Oma, who stood invisible in a corner of the room. She silently approached the slumbering form of the Astrophysicist, and leant over it, her hands hovering a few inches above Sam's forehead and chest, a glowing white light emanating from her palms. She whispered,

"The Guardian will return home to you soon. Your path is far from over."

_Sam found herself standing in the middle of the plains of Abydos, the suns beating down on her. She closed her eyes, turning her face to the light and found it strange how real the heat felt. She opened her eyes and found much to her amazement and fear a shimmering ring of white and yellow light spinning around her. She spun around, fear gripping her chest and she called, _

_"Hello?"_

_A figure appeared from the light, materialising in human form, a female form to be precise. Oma stood before her, and Sam frowned in confusion. She asked,_

_"Oma Desala?"_

_Oma gazed at her for a moment as though she could see right into her mind, and then she said, "The time has not come for you and Daniel to merge paths."_

_Sam stared at the Ancient in disbelief before her concern for her best friend overrode everything else, and she asked, her voice frantic as she walked around Oma, "What's happened to Daniel? We haven't seen him for months..."_

_Oma replied, her face more sad and wistful than serene, "You will not remember this conversation, Samantha. All you will be left with is an instinct that all will resolve itself."_

_Sam, agitated, continued her transit around the Ancient, and Oma turned, meeting her gaze as she continued, "You are the Listener, Samantha. The Listener and the Guardian are destined to bring into the world two powerful children, the Duality. This has been known since times past. Daniel will return to you, fear not. You and the Guardian are destined for such great things, such wonderful things."_

_Sam paused in surprise, and she asked, not wanting to believe her inner voice, "Who... who is the Guardian?"_

Sam suddenly woke up with a gasp, Daniel's name on her lips as she tried albeit unsuccessfully to recall her dream, the images just moving out of her grasp when she attempted to grab them. She peered at the LED display of her bedside clock on the nightstand, and flopped back down onto the bed when she read: 03:46. She sighed, wondering what she had dreamt and why it had left her with a feeling that all will come full circle, and also why her heart beat was racing.


	12. Chapter 12

Sam had gone to Hammond's office to brief him on the situation of the galaxy with regard to Anubis' growing domination of the other System Lords' territories in his quest for galactic domination. She was in the middle of explaining a particular piece of Tok'ra Intel when Jonas came running in, breathless as he held onto the doorway.

Her heart nearly leapt into her mouth when Jonas had announced that he had found the Lost City mentioned in the tablet that Daniel had bequeathed them. If this was true, it could turn the tables on the war with Anubis and the rest of the Goa'uld... and perhaps the Replicators. It saddened her internally to know that Daniel wouldn't be there to see their discovery. However, there was one thing missing that the Kelownan kept omitting, and it took a couple of reminders to get him to fill them in -- the 'gate address.

After a little theorising with regard to how 'lost' the Lost City actually was, an address was procured from the the list of addresses that Jack had entered years previously when he had the Ancients' Repository downloaded into his head, and SG-1 were suited up and ready to move out.

Arriving on the planet, Jack, having left SG-3 to guard the 'gate, was instantly sceptical, calling it the City of the Dead despite Jonas' objections to the contrary, and they were met by the locals, who almost instantly offered to surrender the site, but Jonas had told them that they only wished to look at the buildings and ruins, and learn more about their people.

Soon afterwards, Reynolds arrived on the scene, and everything after that was a blur to all of SG-1 until they saw Daniel standing there. Jack, despite challenging him about his status as an Ascended being, knew that Daniel had broken rules and done what he could. He recognised a look in Daniel's eyes that he had only seen before - in Special Forces' personnel who had witnessed the most horrifying things and their minds had blocked them out as a safety valve. He had seen many, many good men go to waste in service of their country in that manner.

Teal'c too saw the distant look in his eyes. He was concerned that Daniel Jackson did not appear to recognise them. It was as though they were strangers to him.

Sam didn't care. She saw Daniel, the man she had wanted to come back since he had first gone, the man she had dreamt about. She approached him, noticing the scared and hostile look in his eyes, and was about to touch his shoulder in reassurance, telling him who she was when he intercepted her hand, his eyes narrowing as he gazed at her, his eyes piercing her very soul in their quest for identity.

Her heart broke in two - he didn't recognise her. What had happened to him? As she looked back at him, her smile fading into an expression of bewilderment and admittedly fear, she realised that it wasn't her Daniel any more. He had gone - the once familiar glint of curiosity had left his eye.

Still staring at her, his eyes boring into her soul, he answered the dark man with the golden tattoo's question about not recognising them, but something was troubling him. She seemed very familiar. An image of her crying and being in pain flitted through his consciousness, and then he knew... somewhat. He had hurt her, bad. Maybe that had been the reason why he had been cast down in the forest, although for some reason, he felt laughter bubbling up in his throat each time he considered the concepts of predestiny and divine justice.

He had to leave. He couldn't let her touch him. He had hurt her and she was still reaching out to him. What had he done? Who were these people? Who was she? The confusing images returned, and he left, not answering the grey haired man's question. He needed to think, and he couldn't do that if he was near her.

After Jack had unsuccessfully talked to Daniel in an attempt to persuade him to come home, he emerged from the tent, frustrated, and talked to Sam. She had told him that perhaps he needed time to get his memory back, something which they had plenty of what with Jonas' excavation of the ruins set to take a few weeks at least, and he remarked,

"Tag, you're it."

She fought the urge to roll her eyes at her CO's childish behaviour, and she, apprehensive at what she would find as well as facing the man who was and wasn't Daniel, entered the tent, just as he blew out a candle, the flame reminding him too much of her hair.

She sat next to him, trying to persuade him to come home as her heart threatened to break once more, and she became worried that they had lost him for good. That was right until he started self-doubting when she voiced her concerns about his apparent lack of curiosity about who he was. She fought the urge to grin as she realised that he was still in there - their Daniel... her Daniel... Well, ok, not _her_ Daniel, but her best friend and fellow academic Daniel. She then decided to tell him most of everything that she felt that she should have told him a long time ago.

When she had finished, she became worried that she hadn't done enough, and she was about to leave, when he stopped her, actually remembering her name after getting Jack's name wrong!

"Samantha Carter?"

She turned, curious and yet hopeful, and he asked, something indescribable in his eyes as Oma silently watched from a corner, unseen and smiling, "Was there anything between us?"

She gaped, taken aback by the question. Where had it come from? Had he picked up on her feelings? Had he known all along? No, wait, he had lost his memory. He was just confused. It was better to tell him the truth unless is memories did come back. Mentally shaking herself as her heart cracked, she replied, still sounding surprised,

"No... no, not in that way... We were _really_ good friends."

Oma whispered from her corner before vanishing with a knowing smile, "Your answer will change, Samantha."

He nodded, but he felt that there was something wrong, that she had been lying. After she had left the tent, looking dazed, he cogitated. She had said all those nice things about him, and coupled with his flitting memories of her, he thought that there had been something... far more than friendship. It just didn't feel right. He had a strong feeling that he had done something wrong, and it was related somehow to her.

Jim... no, Jack... that's right... Jack had mentioned that he was one of them, that he had done all of these amazing things that he hadn't remembered doing. He hadn't believed a word - there was something about Jack he didn't trust, that he couldn't fathom. It was as though the older man was hiding something, something dark and endless, something more horrifying than anything that he could possibly imagine.

He was set on refusing to go 'home' with them, but they had to send Samantha in, didn't they? The rush of feelings that he had felt on first seeing her, returned on seeing her again. He had instantly known that he would do anything for her, that he would defy possibility in keeping her safe from harm. There was something about her that challenged him, that made him open his eyes, and he had a strong feeling that she had had the same effect on him before now, even if he couldn't remember.

Despite being scared, he gathered his minimal possessions in his cloth-bag, and emerged from the tent, clutching it tightly, a determined expression on his face. He was going to get to the bottom of this. He was going to find out who he was, find out if he really was as good as she had claimed -- all because of her. It felt irrational to do it for one person that he barely remembered coherently, but at the same time, it felt as though it was something that he was meant to do.

As the dark man, who he presumed was the Teal'c that Jim had mentioned, asked Samantha about him, he replied, feeling a strange almost familiar feeling on answering for her, "He's going home."

SG-1 turned around to face him, stunned, and saw him looking determined and yet scared. Teal'c smiled slightly - this was Daniel Jackson indeed; the man who always did the right thing regardless of his own fear. For the first time in over a year, Sam felt hope. He was coming home!


	13. Chapter 13

_This chapter is a tag of sorts for Orpheus... The story carries on in Jackson Junior, which is set in season 10, well... that's if I don't get it into my head to do a Jackson Junior story for Threads... Agh, so tempting. Sorry for the sad ending here. : )_

--------------------

Daniel's memories gradually came back to him in piece meal over the weeks since his return, that small mercy resulting in the saving of Bra'tac and Ry'ac from a slave camp on Erebus. He had endured the grief of losing Sha're all over again, the memories raging through him as he lay awake, his mind crying out in pain. Night after night, he had relived more and more pain; pain and overwhelming guilt, and remembered scary, sad and frightening things - his parents' death, years of abuse at the hands of various foster families and school bullies, Sarah walking out on him when he had worked straight through their two month anniversary, his being laughed out of academia, Sha're's miscarriage, her and Skaara's abduction, Hathor, coming face to face with a dying Apophis, Jack having to leave him onboard Apophis' ship, Linnea, Ke'ra, his addiction to the Sarcophagus, his Appendectomy, Reese... the memories kept on coming.

One night, unable to sleep and frustrated at the onslaught of mostly unhappy memories, he threw on a t-shirt and the glasses that he was getting used to using again, and he made his way out of his quarters to what Jack affectionately called a 'Jeffrey's Tube', and he climbed to the surface.

Emerging on the grassy surface of the mountain, he blinked in the cool darkness, hearing a guard detail march past behind him, an SF talking about a betting pool of sorts about Daniel's deaths. He smiled briefly, and walked towards a fallen tree that he had spotted in a walk earlier that day. He approached it when he stopped in this tracks on seeing someone sitting on it, the figure hunched over, their back to him. He frowned slightly, wondering who it could be at that hour, considering that everyone else but him had some sort of off-base accommodation, his own soon to be coming into his possession at the weekend when the realtor would give him the keys for a house he had chosen with Jack and Teal'c's assistance.

He neared the tree quietly, and when he got nearer, he realised who it was. Concerned, he sat down and the figure looked up, asking in surprise, "Daniel?"

He nodded and asked as he gazed at her, "Sam?"

The clouds broke and her hair glowed an ethereal silvery-gold, her pale skin luminescent in the light of the full moon, she looked away from him, straight in front of her as she said, "I'm glad you're back."

"Me too... What's wrong? You look troubled."

She met his gaze again, and not wanting to answer the question and reveal her inner maelstrom, asked with a shake of her head, "Why are you up here?"

He shrugged and replied, hitching his glasses up as they slipped down his nose, "Couldn't sleep."

Glancing at him, she asked, her face clouded with concern, "Nightmares?"

He shook his head and said, shifting his gaze to an unseen point in the distance, away from her, "No, memories. Everything's coming back."

He added, almost in a whisper as he looked down at his hands, his eyes softening, "I remember Sha're and my parents and... I remember so much pain."

She gazed at him in surprise and worry, and she said, reaching for one of his hands and giving it a reassuring squeeze, "You'll remember the happiness soon, I promise. It isn't all doom and gloom. You helped the Enkarans and the Gadmeer, for instance. You have done so much good."

His gaze had moved up to hers and he replied, self-deprecatingly at first, "I doubt it, but I get a feeling that this is much better than wherever I was for that whole year... It's funny, I don't remember much more than that resurfacing memory of Bra'tac and Ry'ac... the rest are just snatches. Jack told me earlier about Abydos and..."

He sighed and continued, his gaze falling to his hands again as she held them both, "I can't believe it's gone."

"You did everything that you could, I know you did. You're just that type of person."

She pulled him into a hug, and nothing was said for a few minutes as they savoured the feeling of the other's body, she relieved that he was back, and he just grateful that he was alive. He suddenly whispered in the crook of her neck,

"Are you sure that there wasn't anything between us?"

Shocked, she let him go and just stared at him, and he closed his eyes, receiving his answer, but he still sat there. She said, her mouth suddenly dry as she looked down at her feet,

"There wasn't..."

She continued, meeting his confused gaze, "... but that doesn't mean that there can't be."

His eyes widened in surprise as she smiled suddenly as she looked down again, embarrassed, and he gently caressed her cheek, amazed. She looked up at him, her pain and grief evident in her eyes, and he asked as though he had sensed her feelings,

"How long?"

She shrugged and replied, "I don't know. I guess it was when we first met... well, before that, to be honest. I've just been so confused and..."

She suddenly broke down into tears, and said as he instinctively pulled her into his arms, "I've missed you Daniel. Every day since we lost you, I missed you."

They parted, gazing at each other as he tenderly dried her tears, and suddenly they found themselves drawn to each other. Their lips grew closer, both of them scared, and she whispered,

"Daniel?"

Their lips still growing closer, he replied, his right hand tenderly framing the left side of her face, "Sam?"

"This won't ruin things between us, will it?"

"I don't know."

Their lips paused a hair's breadth away, and just as they were about to kiss, a flash of white light engulfed them, a serene voice whispering in their heads, "There is still much of the journey to accomplish first."

And with that, Sam found herself alone once more, still thinking about Daniel coming back, Daniel's arrival on the surface having not happened. She shook her head and whispered to herself,

"He doesn't feel the same way so there's no point."

She brushed away a stray tear and continued thinking things over.

In the meantime, Daniel found himself lying in bed, having had yet another flashback. However, this one was of his and Sam's first meeting in the Cartouche room on Abydos. She had shown so much enthusiasm about the DHD, that it made him smile fondly at the memory, and then they had had that mind-blowing discussion, laying the groundwork for the present Stargate programme in the space of a couple of minutes.

His expression turned wistful as he thought of the question he had asked Sam on Vis Uban. She had put him in his place, telling him that there had been nothing between them. With most of his memories back, he 'realised' why she had so vehemently denied it. She was waiting for Jack. He sighed, wondering whether he would ever get over his feelings for her.

In the corner of his room, unseen yet again, Oma stood, smiling slightly as she whispered before disappearing, "The tide will turn in time, Daniel Jackson. Farewell until we meet again, noble warrior."


End file.
